Has your school, charity or office had a volunteer you want to thank?
Send us your stories and pictures and we'll show a selection of these on this page soon. Your Story
Nick Cox, Website Administrator for Voluntary Action
As a disabled person wanting to find a job that suited me, my options were limited, and after so many attempts at finding a job hadn’t worked out, volunteering seemed like the next step. I needed to get out and gain some experience doing something that I wanted to do and would suit me.
I had just completed my second web design course and came across an advert for Voluntary Action. A meeting was set up with Joy Johns to discuss the options, what skills did I have, what did I want to do, how often could I volunteer, what interests did I have. All of this in order to find the best solution and placement for me, soon after Joy contacted me with an idea to help out at the office.With Voluntary Action also launching their new website and me looking for somewhere to use my skills it seemed like a great opportunity. That was nearly 3 years ago and I’m still here, my skills are improving all the time, meeting different challenges, coming up with new ideas and generally making me use them which is a good thing rather than being stuck at home and forgetting what I’d learned. My confidence to carry out the tasks required as well as in myself is much higher and I feel that I am making a good contribution to the organisation and the feedback from my work is positive.
Volunteering has certainly benefitted me greatly and I’d recommend it to anyone who is in a similar situation looking to get out and feel a part of something. Even if its only a few hours a week or however much you can manage, your help will always be appreciated.
Denise Hudson - I expect you’re all familiar with the expression ‘If you want something done, ask a busy person.’
Well, that certainly applies to Denise Hudson, originally from Scotland. A few years ago her marriage broke up and she was left on her own with her young son Josh in an area with no friends or direct family.Denise decided that voluntary work might be a means of meeting people and she hasn’t looked back since. She now combines volunteering roles with Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, Contact the Elderly and being a Voluntary Action trustee with a full time job in financial services and bringing up her son. Denise is now happily settled with a new partner, Alan Boyle, and her enthusiasm for volunteering is so infectious. Full Story
Ann Bruce, volunteer at Rushymead Hospice Day Care Centre in Coleshill
“I love it here. It’s good fun, there’s always a great atmosphere, and I always go home thinking, Yes, that was a good day.”
Volunteers at Workaid
Rodney Kumar - COPAG (Chesham Over 50's Positive Action Group)
Much has been written about the effects of redundancy - the stress, hurt, shock and insecurity – and when 37 year old Rodney Kumar, who lives in Chesham, found himself out of work some time ago, he recalls experiencing all those emotions.
“At first, I was quite relaxed about it. I expected to be back in work almost straight away, I started job hunting, and kept myself busy at home. But after a while, it got quite scary, I could feel my confidence slipping away.”
Rodney carried on looking for paid work in the PR field but decided – in the meantime – to see if there was any voluntary work he could do. He contacted Joy Johns at Voluntary Action who put him in touch with COPAG who were looking for someone to edit their quarterly newsletter, the COPAG Chronicle, and to act as their publicity officer.
It is clear that volunteering with COPAG did a great deal to help him through a very difficult time.
“After I joined COPAG, I began to feel much more positive. I was doing something useful, I was using my skills, and keeping my brain active. It gave my confidence a huge boost.”
Rodney began by revitalising COPAG’s newsletter and re-designing their logo, and became involved in many other publicity projects – posters, flyers, press releases. In no time he became an invaluable part of the organisation – so invaluable, in fact, that he has continued to be a volunteer even though he is now in full-time employment.
“I didn’t realise what volunteering would do for me – you don’t know before you start. I get out much more than I put in. I’d recommend volunteering to anyone.”
Riding for the Disabled, Bank Farm, Chesham